Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh continued his spectacular run in the Indian Open World ranking snooker tournament on Thursday as he routed Belgian Luca Bercel 4-0 to qualify for the pre-quarter-finals.
Brimming with confidence after his 4-3 win over top seed and World No.4 Ding Junhui in the previous round, Un-Nooh played some sublime snooker, especially in the third frame when he came from behind to win on black and in the fourth that saw him fire a 137 clearance to close out the match in about an hour.
The 29-year-old Un-Nooh, ranked 61 and in his sixth year on the professional circuit, was a class apart against the Belgian prodigy who in 2012 became the youngest player ever to compete in the World championship.
Bercel, who turned 20 earlier this month, just a few weeks after reaching the Welsh Open semi-finals, defeating World No.1 Mark Selby en route, was mostly a silent spectator as nothing went right for him.
The Belgian, ranked 49, though did have a chance to win the third frame when he led 71-22, but a foul on the black followed by the Thai's 43 clearance effectively ended his challenge as Un-Nooh wrapped up the match in the fourth with the century break.
"This is the best that I have played since turning professional in 2009. I had met Bercel a couple of years ago (in 2012, and lost 0-4), but after beating Ding last night, my confidence is high," said Un-Nooh, the finalist in a minor ranking tournament in China earlier this year.
Un-Nooh's fearless play, besides potting ability, has been the outstanding features of his game, something he attributed to him being an underdog. Also, the time spent at the snooker academy in Sheffield where he spars with the likes of Junhui, has certainly honed his skills.
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"I have nothing to lose as nobody expects me to win," was the Thai's response when asked whether his opponent's reputation weighed on his mind and seemed surprised when told that he had indeed reached the round of 16 where he will meet Welshman Jamie Jones who overcame England's Gerard Greene 4-3.
Earlier, 23-year old Kyren Wilson, ranked 60 and one of the rising stars from England, showcased his potting and break-building prowess with runs of 119 and 105 to beat compatriot Ben Woolaston 4-1 en route to the pre-quarter-finals.
Woolaston, finalist at the recent Welsh Open that took his ranking to 26, won the first frame quite comfortably, but was simply blown off by Wilson's strong reply in the form of 119, 52, 105 and 75 in the next four frames.
China's Li Hang and Tian Penfei also advanced to the round of 16 with similar 4-1 wins over Englishmen Stuart Carrington and Mark Joyce, respectively.
Carrington marked his presence with a run of 138 that topped the previous highest break of 136 by John Higgins, but that effort was insufficient against the rampant Hang.
Pengfei crafted a brilliant 106 in the fifth frame to shut out Joyce who had very little say in the proceedings that the inscrutable Chinese dominated.
The results (Round 2): Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) bt Luca Bercel (Belgium) 4-0: 65 (54)-09, 72-39, 72-71, 137 (137)-00; Michael White (Wales) bt Matthew Selt (England) 4-2: 77-27, 24-62, 73-40, 17-64, 74-00, 100 (100)-00; Chris Wakelin (England) bt Andrew Pagett (Wales) 4-1: 70 (70)-18, 80 (80)-35, 59-71, 70-41, 106 (50,56)-08; Kyren Wilson (England) bt Ben Woolaston (England) 4-1: 24-74, 119 (119)-01, 69 (52)-35, 110 (105)-16, 76 (75)-06; Li Hang (China) bt Stuart Carrington (England) 4-1: 90 (90)-33, 65 (55)-33, 78-44, 00-138 (138), 66 (52)-00; Robert Milkins (England) bt Joe Swail (N Ireland) 4-1: 78 (54)-44, 84 (84)-00, 86 (86)-00, 35-101 (52), 75 (53)-24; Jamie Jones (Wales) bt Gerard Greene (England) 4-3: 13-49, 69 (58)-31, 49-72, 77-14, 72 (51)-00, 07-55, 72 (68)-09; Joe Perry (England) bt Rod Lawler (England) 4-1: 120 (70)-00, 64 (58)-52, 37-92 (76), 91-23, 95 (95)-08; Graeme Dott (Scotland) bt David Morris (Ireland) 4-0: 64-08, 91 (91)-00, 68 (60)-07, 62-35; Mark Davis (England) bt Anthony McGill (Scotland) 4-3: 63-52, 77 (52)-33, 84-43, 28-73, 19-64, 01-70 (70), 70-41; Tian Pengfei (China) bt Mark Joyce (England) 4-1: 59-106 (51), 62-41, 70 (50)-58, 71-41, 106 (106)-00.